Norwich police station project pitched to Rotary

Calling it a “legacy project,” city leaders on Wednesday pitched the need for a new, $33.4 million downtown police station to the Norwich Rotary in the closing weeks before voters decide the facility’s fate. ...

Calling it a “legacy project,” city leaders on Wednesday pitched the need for a new, $33.4 million downtown police station to the Norwich Rotary in the closing weeks before voters decide the facility’s fate.

And new information on financing the venture emerged. Comptroller Joseph Ruffo said the “worst-case scenario” is that a home assessed at $100,000 a year would pay $1,800 over 20 years to pay off the cost.

“This is a project that’s been planned and thought of for many years. A project that we feel from the administration and City Council is a long-term, legacy project for our city,” City Manager Alan Bergren said. “It’s a decision we want to make once for many generations to come.”

Bergren, Ruffo and Police Chief Louis J. Fusaro Sr. spent nearly an hour explaining why the 57,000-square-foot complex is needed, framing it not only as a major upgrade for public safety but an economic driver as well.

“We don’t have an adequate training facility in our building. I have a number of very qualified, highly talented certified police instructors. I send them all over the region to do the training in other facilities that are adequate, and we have to send our officers to follow them,” Fusaro said. “There are 50 or 60 officers somewhere else spending their money somewhere else. With this proposal, that would happen in downtown Norwich.”

Currently, the police occupy a 21,000-square-foot building at 70 Thames St. — a space Fusaro and proponents say is woefully inadequate.

Often, officers end up interviewing people in public lobbies or hallways, and sensitive programs like domestic violence advocacy are forced to share space.

Officials said the proposed $33.4 million price tag includes all construction-related expenses, from labor costs to retrofits at the former Sears building at 2-6 Cliff St. where the station is planned, along with a three-story parking garage that includes 75 spots for the public on the ground level.

“When we make investments, we should make investments that are proper and for the long term,” Bergren said. “We believe this police station has a number of benefits for our community.”

Though admittedly expensive, Fusaro said the estimate for a new police station came from an architectural firm that has built more than 60 such facilities across the state.

“It’s expensive to build a modern police station facility, but it has to be done,” he said. “Our officers fight that (the existing police station) building every day, and that makes us inefficient.”

Ruffo said Norwich remains in a strong financial position to receive a favorable rate on any bond, pointing to the 2.6 percent interest rate it earned last November on the heels of a $9.6 million bond.

Page 2 of 2 - “That hasn’t changed,” he said.

Rotary member Gary Young wondered how police vehicles would access side roads with the station’s placement at the bottom of a one-way street.

“What kind of traffic configuration are you going to do,” he said.

Fusaro said should voters approve the Nov. 6 bond question, a building committee will be formed to look at issues such as traffic flow.